Canon Yaounde U18

Cameroonian Elite One U18
11 Oct 2026
Sunday
Process
10 Edition

The Canon Yaounde Gazette

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Franck Assiga Edoa damages knee ligaments — 70 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 70 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Market

Yves Aimé Zoa hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Canon Yaounde can pretend not to have heard.

Player ratings

Joseph Arumala, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.32

A mark of 8.32 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.

Player ratings

A defender's goal wins it for Canon Yaounde — 7.90

1 for Issa Bangfome, marked 7.90, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.

Squad

Real improvement from Kutlwano Letlhaku at Canon Yaounde

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Kutlwano Letlhaku is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Squad

Kutlwano Letlhaku in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Canon Yaounde this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Thato Sibiya falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

The terraces

Canon Yaounde supporters have found a favourite in Joseph Arumala

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Joseph Arumala has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

Player ratings

Dilane Ekongolo runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

Back issues
9 Edition

The Canon Yaounde Gazette

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Franck Assiga Edoa damages knee ligaments — 77 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 77 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

The terraces

The boos come down from three sides

“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 8 of the 30 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.

Player ratings

A first appearance Alain Bikoe Mongo will want to forget — 5.71

Everybody's debut is one of two stories and this was the other one. 5.71, and the only consolation available is that nobody's career has ever been decided by ninety minutes in a shirt he had just been given.

Squad

Real improvement from Joël Paten at Canon Yaounde

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Joël Paten is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Squad

Tempers go at Canon Yaounde

Kutlwano Letlhaku was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Martin Ako Assomo

Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

In brief

8 Edition

The Canon Yaounde Gazette

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Franck Assiga Edoa damages knee ligaments — 84 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 84 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Squad

Real improvement from Thato Sibiya at Canon Yaounde

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Thato Sibiya is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Squad

Thato Sibiya in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Canon Yaounde this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Nathan Doualla

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Dilane Ekongolo

Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Loan watch

Dieudonne Alex Essono Omgba wants to come home

“I did not go to PWD Bamenda to sit and watch. I want to come back to Canon Yaounde and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.

In brief

7 Edition

The Canon Yaounde Gazette

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Squad

Franck Assiga Edoa damages knee ligaments — 91 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 91 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Squad

Dilane Ekongolo is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.

Market

Zacharie Ebogo’s move to Dynamo Douala falls through

The deal that would have taken Zacharie Ebogo to Dynamo Douala has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Canon Yaounde with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.

Squad

Junior Dande in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Canon Yaounde this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Canon Yaounde training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thato Sibiya is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Match

Canon Yaounde find a way past Fauve Azur Elite

Fauve Azur Elite made Canon Yaounde work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Martin Ako Assomo at his very best

Marked 8.33. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Canon Yaounde.

Player ratings

Juste Koulou leaves them behind him

Shots: 5. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Dilane Ekongolo

Successful dribbles: 9. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

In brief

6 Edition

The Canon Yaounde Gazette

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Squad

Franck Assiga Edoa damages knee ligaments — 98 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 98 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Market

Yves Aimé Zoa hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Canon Yaounde can pretend not to have heard.

The terraces

Supporters turn on the $120.0K sale of Stéphane Bekolo

He is going to Cotonsport Garoua, the club has $120.0K it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.

Squad

Real improvement from Kutlwano Letlhaku at Canon Yaounde

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Kutlwano Letlhaku is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Squad

Thato Sibiya in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Canon Yaounde this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Boardroom

Graduation day at Canon Yaounde

3 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.

Market

Business is business: Stéphane Bekolo goes

Cotonsport Garoua paid $120.0K and Canon Yaounde took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.

Match

Canon Yaounde find a way past Gazelle Garoua

Gazelle Garoua made Canon Yaounde work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Dilane Ekongolo

At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

In brief

5 Edition

The Canon Yaounde Gazette

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Franck Assiga Edoa damages knee ligaments — 105 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 105 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

The terraces

Canon Yaounde sell a favourite for $160.0K

The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Romeo Mfeng Nanga was one of the reasons people came, and $160.0K does not replace that by itself.

Market

Zacharie Ebogo asks to leave Canon Yaounde

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Squad

Real improvement from Joël Paten at Canon Yaounde

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Joël Paten is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Market

PWD Bamenda come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Canon Yaounde did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Market

Canon Yaounde get their man

The chase for Ali Nsangou ended with $160.0K changing hands and PWD Bamenda out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.

In brief

4 Edition

The Canon Yaounde Gazette

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Stéphane Bekolo hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Canon Yaounde can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Canon Yaounde say no — this time

The offer from PWD Bamenda for Paul Ombolo was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Squad

Tempers go at Canon Yaounde

Junior Dande was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Issa Bangfome falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Market

Fortuna Mfou watching Stéphane Bekolo

The interest is real enough to have reached print. Canon Yaounde have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

Squad

Thato Sibiya has outgrown this division

There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Canon Yaounde know it, and so does everybody who watches him.

In brief

3 Edition

The Canon Yaounde Gazette

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Canon Yaounde say no — this time

The offer from Panthere du Nde for Franck Assiga Edoa was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Squad

Junior Dande in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Canon Yaounde this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Canon Yaounde training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Issa Bangfome is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Squad

Somebody is after Martin Ako Assomo’s shirt

A new face in his position, and Martin Ako Assomo suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Canon Yaounde have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.

Market

Canon Yaounde borrow Kabiru Abdullahi

A season-long look at somebody else’s player: Kabiru Abdullahi arrives from Barau with something to prove and a return ticket in the drawer. Good loans make everybody richer; this one starts Saturday.

Squad

A season on the outside for Kabiru Abdullahi

He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Canon Yaounde has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.

In brief

2 Edition

The Canon Yaounde Gazette

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Yves Aimé Zoa puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Canon Yaounde, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Panthere du Nde come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Canon Yaounde did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Squad

Junior Dande in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Canon Yaounde this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

Aigle Royal de la Menoua watching Franck Assiga Edoa

The interest is real enough to have reached print. Canon Yaounde have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

Market

Still no ink between Canon Yaounde and Nathan Doualla

“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Canon Yaounde, another week without a signature from Nathan Doualla.

Squad

Somebody is after Martin Ako Assomo’s shirt

A new face in his position, and Martin Ako Assomo suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Canon Yaounde have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.

In brief

1 Edition

The Canon Yaounde Gazette

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Martin Ako Assomo stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Martin Ako Assomo and Canon Yaounde agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Tempers go at Canon Yaounde

Junior Dande was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Market

Évrard Beyong attracts admirers

The name of Évrard Beyong has come up in conversations Canon Yaounde were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Squad

Issa Bangfome falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Market

Still no ink between Canon Yaounde and Junior Dande

“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Canon Yaounde, another week without a signature from Junior Dande.

Market

49 months and counting on Martin Ako Assomo

Still no offer on the table, and Martin Ako Assomo’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.

In brief